The Wandering Songstress

"The Wandering Songstress"
Song by Zhou Xuan
Released	1937
Genre	Shidaiqu
Length	02:31
Writer(s)	Tian Han
Composer(s)	He Luting

"Tianya genü" (Chinese: 天涯歌女; pinyin: Tiānyá gēnǚ), or "The Wandering Songstress", is one of two theme songs from the 1937 Chinese film Street Angel; the other being the "Four Seasons Song" (Chinese: 四季歌; pinyin: Sì jì gē). It was composed by He Luting based on an older Suzhou ballad, with lyrics by Tian Han. The song was sung by Zhou Xuan in the film, playing the role of Xiao Hong.

It is one of the most notable of the Chinese popular songs from the 30s and 40s, and has been described as a song that has "a lingering fame" in China like "As Time Goes By" from the 1942 film Casablanca in the United States. The song has also been described as "a classic Chinese love song".

In the film, this song was called "Tianya Ge", the "The Wandering Song" (Chinese: 天涯歌; pinyin: Tiānyá gē), but became better known as "Tianya Genü". "Tianya Genü" has been translated in various English sources as "The Wandering Songstress", "Singing Girl", "The Songstress of the World", "The Wandering Singer", "Singer at the Sky Edge", and "Singing Girl at the Edge of the World". The varying translations came from the different possible readings of the song title. "Tianya" (Chinese: 天涯) literally means "sky horizon" that carries the meaning of "at the end of the world", but within the context of the song it also has the figurative meanings of "separation by a long distance" from the phrase "tianya haijiao" (天涯海角) which is part of the lyrics that describe someone seeking to find her intended.

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